Windy Day

Since it was so windy today I thought the kids would enjoy making kites...well me assembling and them decorating.  At any rate, they were a huge hit...the kids really enjoyed them.  I enjoyed watching them until my Joey ran full force into my back...that was a bit of a shock.

Didn't you do this with your Grandma?

You mean you didn't draw jack-o-lantern faces on little mandarin oranges?

24 Hours in Prague

Last night Leslie, Whitney and I returned from a whirlwind trip to Prague.  We had hoped to stay two nights, but didn't get our bus tickets in time.  We left Saturday morning about 8:30am and arrived in Prague about 12:30pm.  After checking in at the Czech Inn we met up with a friend of Leslie's and a couple others and headed up to see the castle.  The "castle" is actually many buildings with a cathedral inside. 

After walking through the castle, we walked down to the Charles Bridge stopping along the way at a cafe for warm beverages.  The Charles Bridge was very busy and quite interesting. 

My favorite part was the small jazz band with a clarinetist.

We walked around a bit more before realizing that we were to meet a missionary family for dinner.  We went to a restaurant that served traditional Czech food from times past.  Wild boar was a popular item on the list and I settled for roasted duck.  Very interesting...

After visiting with the family for a while we ventured out into the frigid weather to see the castle and Charles Bridge by night.  It was beautiful.  We had the castle and bridge practically to ourselves.  It was freezing, but beautiful.

We arrived at the hostel very late and were grateful to fall into our bunks.  We got a little confused with the daylight savings business,  but managed to eat breakfast and then head out again.  We went to the Jewish Quarter to see the Jewish Cemetery, but weren't quite up for paying the entrance fee and just peeked through the gate.  We did see the Old New Synagogue from the outside.

After the Jewish Quarter we meandered around the Old Town Area where the Astronomical clock is located.  We were told to be there on the hour so we could see the different figures pass by the doors.  Apparently there was something funny at the end that I missed...everyone else was laughing and I didn't get it. 

At this point we had an hour and a half to get to the bus station.  We decided to try and see the Dancing Building.  We made our way towards the southern part of the city, stopping for some food at a bakery on the way.  The subways are not quite as often as those in Vienna and by the time we made it out of the subway station at the stop we had half an hour to make it to the bus station.  We raced down the street to see the building and I took the official pictures as we trotted across the street and back up to the subway station.  

We quickly made our way to the bus station, getting to our seats with five minutes to spare.  Whew!  

Check out the rest of my pictures from the trip.

The Saga Concludes

I woke up this morning with hope and confidence in the speedy resolution to my box problem.  Surely there has been enough drama already, right?  Well...not quite.  My friend Cindi graciously agreed to help me pick up the boxes.  We cheerfully drove a couple streets over to Taborstrasse 95 and eventually found a likely looking building.  Only to find that not only was it obviously not the right place, the gentleman wasn't able to tell us where to go.  At this point we called Whitney for the contact name and number and attempted to chat with Werner.  He of course only knew German, so we (Cindi) didn't get too far.  So I called Leslie and asked if she would call Werner and she reported that we were in the wrong place and that we were supposed to be on Ladestrasse at Westbahnhof.  We were quite confused so called the school to ask our Austrian affairs secretary to call Werner and get better directions.  We then returned to my apartment to try and use the internet as a source of correct information.  We found that we were probably in the right place, just didn't quite find it.  We (Whitney included this time) drove back to the train yard to search again.  We drove up and down a few rows when Geraldine was finally able to get in contact with us and give us more specific directions.  Finally we saw the building, Werner had the paperwork ready to sign, some young buck threw the boxes into the van and we were off!  Yay!!!!!!!

Where they landed at first because we had to go to school.

A close up of the condition.  They're pretty beat up and filthy.

The casualties:  pot, windchime, hair clip, Grandma's stationary box :(

The windchime was my pleasant surprise...I'd forgotten I'd packed it.

Now...I've got the mess to deal with...might just procrastinate and watch TV instead...gotta keep up with The Office.

I'm so glad to have my boxes.  AND...there's no charge!  I think since it was their fault they were rejected in the first place they covered all the fees.  So it turns out that it was cheaper to wait 2+ months instead of getting them on the container.  God is good!

My boxes are here!!

I'm picking them up tomorrow!

Afternoon of Sports

This afternoon I went with Whitney and Beth to watch the Middle School football (soccer) game and the High School Volleyball game.  Unfortunately my presence didn't bring much luck since they both lost, but they sure tried their hardest.  My favorite part was getting to see one of my kids there cheering on his sister.  He was quite shy when I spoke with him, but it's always nice to have those connections.

VCS is the blue and white

We're the dark blue

I voted for...

Did you really think I was going to tell you?

Fall in the Prater

This is where I go running.  The park is covered with leaves and chestnuts.  I'll post more pictures if there are more colors.

Happy Birthday to me

My mom and sister generously gave me money for my birthday and I've been pondering what to buy.  Since I've been drooling over this purse for a couple of months, and the Wells were visiting the US, I decided now was the time to take the plunge and get a larger bag.  I'm not sure what I'll put in it yet, but I'm really excited.

Guest Lecturer

Today our secondary principal, Mr. Pitotti came to read to us.  He read us two books:  If you Give a Moose a Muffin and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  My students enjoyed having someone else read to them and I enjoyed the break.  I also really appreciated his closing prayer for their schooling and spiritual lives.  It's good to be reminded of the ultimate purpose of being here.  Right before he left he had us all participate in Rapture Practice.  To do this you must jump in the air with your hands up as if you're meeting Him in the clouds.

24:47

Last night I participated in my first Vienna Night Run.  It was a 4k through downtown Vienna.  It was fun to run amidst some of the famous sights of the city.  I ran faster than I thought...pretty close to 10 minute miles.  Actually quite an accomplishment for this slowpoke.

The Rathaus-beginning and end of race

My carb loading before the big race

The offical shirt--much nicer than the ones from the Mission Inn Run

Leslie and me beforehand

The official timepiece (Whitney is turning out to be very useful)

The triumphant conquerers (as seen before the start)

Everything I need to know...

Right outside my classroom is a window from which I can watch my students walking to recess.  Today I observed several incidents of pushing in which more than one student ended up on the ground.  So I marched myself out there and around the building and rounded up those rascals.  I sat them down on the soggy ground and gave them a piece of my mind.  "There's no way I'm gonna let you come out here to play if you're gonna be pushing...."  You know how it goes.  

Just doing my duty as the kindergarten teacher...you know what they say.  Hopefully a lesson in not pushing is something that will serve them well in life.

I Almost Forgot!!

Friday night we trekked out to the line dancing bar for Amy's last night/birthday.  It was also the last night of beginner lessons so there was some review dancing and...certificates for participants.  Even though I had only been there once before, I too recieved a certificate. 

But...that wasn't the highlight of the evening.  The best, or perhaps more correctly, shocking part of the night was watching Gerhard do an interpretive dance with cowboy hat and duds to a country version of "The Old Rugged Cross."  We weren't quite sure what to do with that, but it made for an interesting memory.

Showtime!

Last night the Junior class held a fundraiser entitled Showtime.  Among other random things were game shows such as:  Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader, and the highlight of the night, Don't Forget the Lyrics.  On one of the last rounds of Millionaire, whose name did they pull out of the bag but Miss Montoya!  (Thanks Whitney)  Well, I didn't completely embarass myself, but I didn't do that well.  How am I supposed to know that Doc Holliday was a dentist or that the Monopoly man is Rich Uncle Moneybags.  But while I didn't win a million dollars (or anywhere close) I did walk away with a great stash of chocolate.

The Shoes Visit

This past week, Traci and Jonathan visited Vienna on their way from Portugal (where they are church planters) to Hungary for a conference.  I happily gave up my room for the occasion and really enjoyed our time together.

I had the opportunity to meet their cute little girl, Katie.
We had dinner one night and Katie decided she needed to be in the kitchen helping. 
They were even able to come visit the school...my girls loved Katie.
It was great to see them and be able to share my life here in Vienna.

Staff Photos

So the new staff photo page is up on VCS' website.  

http://www.viennachristianschool.org/info/staffphotos.htm

Doesn't my roomie look cute?!

Lange Nacht der Museen

Last night was the long night of museums here in Vienna.  For the low price of 13 Euros one can visit many many museums in Vienna.  They even have special bus routes to take participants to museums further outside the city.  We made it to seven museums from 6:00pm - 1:00am.  We went to:

National Library-Kind of like Beauty and the Beast

From there to the Bible Museum and then on a crowded bus to...
The Shoe Museum
These were my favorite
After that we went to the Snowglobe Museum and then a LONG ride back to the center of the city on the bus.

We also visited the Globe Museum which turned out to be my favorite.  I enjoyed seeing the various globes and how they changed over the years as cartographers became more accurate.

We also visited the Natural History Museum and finally to the Planetarium where I promptly fell asleep.
It was a great night and I enjoyed visiting various museums that I wouldn't regularly see.  It was a cold night...
so I put aside my vanity and wore my hoods.

No, the baby doesn't visit till next week

Whitney made butternut squash tonight.  I wasn't brave enough to eat more than this:

The flavor was good...the texture a little weird.

Break

Every morning about 9:30 we go outside for break.  Which really means recess.  My boys love to play football...even in the rain.

The girls play jumprope or just run around. 
I just stand there.

Picture courtesy of Elizabeth.